diff --git a/devtools/client/debugger/debugger-controller.js b/devtools/client/debugger/debugger-controller.js
index 65a759ae5442..35ce949349bd 100644
--- a/devtools/client/debugger/debugger-controller.js
+++ b/devtools/client/debugger/debugger-controller.js
@@ -297,7 +297,9 @@ var DebuggerController = {
       }
     });
 
-    this.Workers.connect();
+    if (this._target.isTabActor) {
+      this.Workers.connect();
+    }
     this.ThreadState.connect();
     this.StackFrames.connect();
 
diff --git a/devtools/client/debugger/test/mochitest/browser.ini b/devtools/client/debugger/test/mochitest/browser.ini
index 67fbecfc1953..5b13be24926e 100644
--- a/devtools/client/debugger/test/mochitest/browser.ini
+++ b/devtools/client/debugger/test/mochitest/browser.ini
@@ -125,6 +125,8 @@ skip-if = e10s && debug
 tags = addons
 [browser_dbg_addon-sources.js]
 tags = addons
+[browser_dbg_addon-workers-dbg-enabled.js]
+tags = addons
 [browser_dbg_addon-modules.js]
 skip-if = e10s # TODO
 tags = addons
diff --git a/devtools/client/debugger/test/mochitest/browser_dbg_addon-workers-dbg-enabled.js b/devtools/client/debugger/test/mochitest/browser_dbg_addon-workers-dbg-enabled.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..65cbd9865428
--- /dev/null
+++ b/devtools/client/debugger/test/mochitest/browser_dbg_addon-workers-dbg-enabled.js
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+/* -*- indent-tabs-mode: nil; js-indent-level: 2 -*- */
+/* vim: set ft=javascript ts=2 et sw=2 tw=80: */
+/* Any copyright is dedicated to the Public Domain.
+ * http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ */
+
+"use strict";
+
+// Test that the Addon Debugger works when devtools.debugger.workers is enabled.
+// Workers controller cannot be used when debugging an Addon actor.
+
+const ADDON_URL = EXAMPLE_URL + "addon3.xpi";
+
+function test() {
+  Task.spawn(function*() {
+    info("Enable worker debugging.");
+    yield new Promise(resolve => {
+      SpecialPowers.pushPrefEnv({
+        "set": [["devtools.debugger.workers", true]]
+      }, resolve);
+    });
+
+    let addon = yield addAddon(ADDON_URL);
+    let addonDebugger = yield initAddonDebugger(ADDON_URL);
+
+    is(addonDebugger.title, "Debugger - browser_dbg_addon3",
+                            "Saw the right toolbox title.");
+
+    info("Check that groups and sources are displayed.");
+    let groups = yield addonDebugger.getSourceGroups();
+    is(groups.length, 2, "Should be only two groups.");
+    let sources = groups[0].sources;
+    is(sources.length, 2, "Should be two sources");
+
+    yield addonDebugger.destroy();
+    yield removeAddon(addon);
+    finish();
+  });
+}
+